AF incidence up 3% annually in community-based study

Reuters Health - 02/09/2020 - Atrial fibrillation (AF) incidence rates increased by 3% a year from 2006 to 2018, according to a new study from one integrated healthcare-delivery system. "Our results show increasing AF across the board - all age groups, inpatient and outpatient settings, primary vs. secondary diagnosis. This suggests a global increased tendency to diagnose and document AF across all clinical settings," said Dr. Brent A. Williams of Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania. "Our study did find increasing AF risk factors and more short-term electrocardiogram (ECG) use in at-risk populations, but these do not appear to explain the majority of the increase," he told Reuters Health by email. While the burden of AF is growing, the reasons behind the increase aren't fully understood. To investigate, Dr. Williams and his team looked at more than 500,000 patients from their health system, 22,077 of whom developed AF. From 2006 to 2018, ...

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Posted on 2 September, 20208 September, 2020